The
nation of Saudi Arabia has been in the news quite a lot lately and, at times,
not for the best of reasons. They do,
however, currently have good relations with both Israel and the United States,
which when considering what the Bible has to say about the very near future,
could have considerable import. We have
seen much talk lately concerning the coming conflict between a coalition of
nations and the nation of Israel found in the prophecy known as the Gog Magog War. When we read what Ezekiel has to say, we see we
are given a list of nations that join to attack Israel, yet what is even more
interesting is the fact that God tells us of a few nations that don't. This is
what we find in the Gog Magog prophecy found in Ezekiel, chapter 38.
"Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young
lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou
gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to
take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?"
Ezekiel 38:13
What we find is that these people question the motives of Gog and the alliance, but they don't participate, or for that matter, interfere with what occurs. So who are these people, and does their identification really matter? I think it does for I believe it will give us a more accurate picture of the possible timing of this event if we can figure out who they are and examine their foreign policy positions with Israel today. Fortunately, as always, we can look to the Bible to answer our questions, and to do this we go to Genesis to find our first clue. There we are told;
"Then Again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she
bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Medan, and Midian, and
Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons
of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of
Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All
these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had to
Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham
gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived,
eastward, unto the east country."
Genesis 25:1-6
We mentioned the story of Abraham in the first chapter while exploring the roots of the conflict in the Middle East, but here we get a little more information about the many descendants Abraham had. Here we find that the sons of Keturah, which included his grandsons Sheba and Dedan, relocated from Israel to the east. If you look closely at a map, you find there is only one thing east of Israel, and that is the deserts of Arabia. Two very famous and well-respected archaeologists, Wendell Phillips and W.F. Albright have identified Sheba as being on the southwestern part of the Arabian Desert, and Dedan being located in the northern part. In fact, the capitol of Saudi Arabia has, and still is called Dedan on many maps.
So if we can support the premise that Sheba and Dedan is in fact the present nation of Saudi Arabia, what about "the merchants of Tarshish"? Again, we can find references in the Bible that will help us figure this out. There are several verses in the Bible that mention Tarshish, but I want to use just one to try to explain the position many scholars take on what the Bible is referring to here. The most well-known reference is found in the book of Jonah, where in opposition to God's instructions, Jonah decides to flee. We find when we read in the very first chapter;
"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their
wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish
from the presence of the lord, and went down to Joppa, and he found a
ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it,
to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1:1-3
Now most who have studied this story understand that it is all about choosing to do the opposite of what God instructs us to do, which is exactly what Jonah chose to do. God told him to go to Ninevah, which was located in what would be present day Iraq, and instead, he chose to go the opposite direction to Tarshish, which required the use of a ship to travel over the sea. The obvious picture here is that God told him to go east, and he went west! Although many have tried over the years to identify a specific city as being the ancient city of Tarshish, no attempt has ever produced enough evidence to gain popular support. However, if you look at all the passages in the Bible that refer to Tarshish, it becomes apparent that it seems that rather than trying to pinpoint a specific location, God is trying to show us a direction, and that direction is west.
Another point that might seem to support this conclusion is the reference in the Ezekiel passage which also tells us of the "young lions" that are part of Tarshish. The word in the Hebrew for "lions" is "kephiyr", and can also be translated "villages", which gives us the idea that there are numerous partners being described here, as well as the reference to "merchants" which is describing trade. So let's consider these conclusions in light of what we know for sure. The "merchants of Tarshish", which includes the "young lions" are engaged in trading or commerce with Sheba and Dedan, and choose to not get involved in, or interfere with, the attempted invasion of Israel.
If Sheba and Dedan is an ancient reference to Saudi Arabia, and they are engaged with commerce with Tarshish and the young lions, which we believe to be the "west", is it just a coincidence that this perfectly describes the situation we have today with the west, including the United States, trading in oil with Saudi Arabia? It seems to fit perfectly even if we don't mention that this also describes the "coalition" of nations that supported the invasion of Iraq when Saddam Hussein was considered a threat to peace in the Middle East.
It is also no secret that the House of Saud is afraid of aggression from Iran for many reasons, including the fact that two of the three most holy places to Islam, Mecca and Medina, are located in Saudi Arabia. Iran's president has made no secret of his devotion to Islam, his anticipation of the arrival of the Islamic messiah called the Mahdi, and the creation of an Islamic nation that will rule the world. Control of the holy places of Islam is certainly high on his list, and Saudi Arabia is well aware of this, so we have a very good reason why Saudi Arabia will not interfere.
"Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young
lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou
gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to
take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?"
Ezekiel 38:13
What we find is that these people question the motives of Gog and the alliance, but they don't participate, or for that matter, interfere with what occurs. So who are these people, and does their identification really matter? I think it does for I believe it will give us a more accurate picture of the possible timing of this event if we can figure out who they are and examine their foreign policy positions with Israel today. Fortunately, as always, we can look to the Bible to answer our questions, and to do this we go to Genesis to find our first clue. There we are told;
"Then Again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she
bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Medan, and Midian, and
Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons
of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of
Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All
these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had to
Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham
gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived,
eastward, unto the east country."
Genesis 25:1-6
We mentioned the story of Abraham in the first chapter while exploring the roots of the conflict in the Middle East, but here we get a little more information about the many descendants Abraham had. Here we find that the sons of Keturah, which included his grandsons Sheba and Dedan, relocated from Israel to the east. If you look closely at a map, you find there is only one thing east of Israel, and that is the deserts of Arabia. Two very famous and well-respected archaeologists, Wendell Phillips and W.F. Albright have identified Sheba as being on the southwestern part of the Arabian Desert, and Dedan being located in the northern part. In fact, the capitol of Saudi Arabia has, and still is called Dedan on many maps.
So if we can support the premise that Sheba and Dedan is in fact the present nation of Saudi Arabia, what about "the merchants of Tarshish"? Again, we can find references in the Bible that will help us figure this out. There are several verses in the Bible that mention Tarshish, but I want to use just one to try to explain the position many scholars take on what the Bible is referring to here. The most well-known reference is found in the book of Jonah, where in opposition to God's instructions, Jonah decides to flee. We find when we read in the very first chapter;
"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their
wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish
from the presence of the lord, and went down to Joppa, and he found a
ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it,
to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1:1-3
Now most who have studied this story understand that it is all about choosing to do the opposite of what God instructs us to do, which is exactly what Jonah chose to do. God told him to go to Ninevah, which was located in what would be present day Iraq, and instead, he chose to go the opposite direction to Tarshish, which required the use of a ship to travel over the sea. The obvious picture here is that God told him to go east, and he went west! Although many have tried over the years to identify a specific city as being the ancient city of Tarshish, no attempt has ever produced enough evidence to gain popular support. However, if you look at all the passages in the Bible that refer to Tarshish, it becomes apparent that it seems that rather than trying to pinpoint a specific location, God is trying to show us a direction, and that direction is west.
Another point that might seem to support this conclusion is the reference in the Ezekiel passage which also tells us of the "young lions" that are part of Tarshish. The word in the Hebrew for "lions" is "kephiyr", and can also be translated "villages", which gives us the idea that there are numerous partners being described here, as well as the reference to "merchants" which is describing trade. So let's consider these conclusions in light of what we know for sure. The "merchants of Tarshish", which includes the "young lions" are engaged in trading or commerce with Sheba and Dedan, and choose to not get involved in, or interfere with, the attempted invasion of Israel.
If Sheba and Dedan is an ancient reference to Saudi Arabia, and they are engaged with commerce with Tarshish and the young lions, which we believe to be the "west", is it just a coincidence that this perfectly describes the situation we have today with the west, including the United States, trading in oil with Saudi Arabia? It seems to fit perfectly even if we don't mention that this also describes the "coalition" of nations that supported the invasion of Iraq when Saddam Hussein was considered a threat to peace in the Middle East.
It is also no secret that the House of Saud is afraid of aggression from Iran for many reasons, including the fact that two of the three most holy places to Islam, Mecca and Medina, are located in Saudi Arabia. Iran's president has made no secret of his devotion to Islam, his anticipation of the arrival of the Islamic messiah called the Mahdi, and the creation of an Islamic nation that will rule the world. Control of the holy places of Islam is certainly high on his list, and Saudi Arabia is well aware of this, so we have a very good reason why Saudi Arabia will not interfere.
There
is no doubt in my mind that the current situation in Saudi Arabia, and the
relationship they now have with Israel, is directly related to the lack of
action described to us by Ezekiel. All
that is left for us to do, as always, is…
Keep
watching.
